Scared Of Loving You
by Secret Starlyte
Summary: The only thing scarier to Hermione than Lord Voldemort... is falling for Harry Potter! And what is up with Draco Malfoy? - - > Ready for mischief and laughs and love? Next chapter up!
1. Harry is a Friend

Scared Of Loving You

Part 1 - Harry is a friend

Hermione Granger lazily watched students mill around the lake on a sticky, summer day. Leaning against a gigantic tree, she stared at her Transfiguration homework once more and wondered what she was doing there. When the heat became unbearable in the Gryffindor Tower, Harry Potter and Ron Weasley insisted she needed a break and had dragged her down the stairs towards the lakeside. Hermione, of course, protested loudly and began complaining about the extra History revision she needed. Her best friends had managed to grab her, but not before she grabbed her Transfiguration homework.

Looking up, she saw the back of Harry's head, whose jet black hair shone in the bright sunlight. He lay on his stomach and his green eyes were focused on something far away. Hermione caught herself staring at him, but not before she realised who he was gazing at: Cho Chang. She shook her now straightened, dark brown hair and concentrated on the words before her.

_The famous author, Webbie Rappit, wrote 'Tranfiguration: The Facts and Faults' during 1823 after ten years of extensive..._

A loud yawn escaped her mouth. Normally she could just feed the facts into her mind as she read, but today she could hardly open her eyes. She sneaked a peek at Harry who lay a few metres from her and blushed when she realised what she was doing.

"You do **not** like Harry Potter!" she thought menacingly to herself, "He is one of your best friends!"

Hermione looked away sadly knowing he had eyes for someone else. Wiping the perspiration from her forehead, she laughed aloud at herself for thinking such stupid thoughts. Hearing her laugh, both Harry and Ron snapped from their distant daydreams.

"What's so funny?" they asked simutaneously.

Hermione couldn't help giggling at their reaction and soon she began laughing harder. Ron and Harry exchanged a look, but a smile played on Harry's lips. For no reason what-so-ever Harry suddenly started to laugh along with her and was soon joined by Ron's chuckles which also grew into loud, hysterical laughter. If anyone happened to walk past at that moment, they would have witnessed a very amusing sight: three friends laughing hysterically, clutching their stomaches whilst rolling around on the grass. Though soon, their laughter subsided and the threesome sat smiling at each other.

Wiping the tears from his eyes, Ron asked, "So what were we laughing about again?"

The three stared at each other, before bursting out laughing once more, completely clueless about what was so funny.

***

By dinnertime, Hermione had finished all her work, for the first time ever. Wondering what to do, she began walking towards the Gryffindor common room door. She passed a mirror, but paused when she saw her reflection. Her reflection giggled like her when she saw the grass stains on her black robe. Smiling at her reflection, she was glad she decided to straighten her bushy hair because it suited her better. She was never one for fashion and this was pretty much all she planned to do until she became older.

Despite the heat, Hermione was in a good mood that evening and had smiled at everyone (except Draco Malfoy) on her way to the Great Hall. Though before she sat down, thinking she heard her name being called, she spun around and bumped heavily into someone.

"Sorry!" she exclaimed breathlessly as she pulled herself together once more.

"That's alright, Hermione," smiled Cho Chang, "I should have watched where I was going. Sorry about that."

Hermione silently sat down in her usual place beside Harry, feeling a twinge of jealousy. Cho Chang was so _good_. She seemed to have coped with Cedric's death, but sadness always seemed to surround her. Hermione shook her head and dug into her roast beef. Her happiness may have deteriorated slightly, but a silly grin was still glued to her face. Harry's arm lay beside hers and his warmth sent tingles down her spine for some reason. She glanced up at Harry's face, hands sweating more than usual. Hermione was puzzled at her reactions to seemingly meaningless actions from her best friend. When she glanced up, she observed his sparkling eyes fixtated on his food, but caught him sneaking looks at Cho from the corner of her eye.

"Quidditch match on soon! Gryffindor against Ravenclaw," remarked Ron cheerfully.

"It'll be pretty tough, but if we try hard we might beat them," replied Harry solemnly.

"Oh come on Harry! You **know** Gryffindor can beat them easily!" laughed Ron.

Hermione giggled before punching Ron lightly on the shoulder, "You never know what tricks they have up their sleeve! **Then** who'll be laughing?"

"I will!" answered Ron, "Because I believe, no I **know**, that Gryffindor will go against all odds to defeat Ravenclaw, no matter how many tricks they have up their sleeves!"

With those last words, Ron stood up in a dramatic hero's pose and looked down his nose at his friends.

"Ron! Sit **down**!" bossed Hermione, "You're causing a scene!"

"You're the boss!" replied Ron happily, before munching on his drumstick once more.

"Ugh. Food was his first love, for sure." commented Hermione.

She looked at Harry, who stopped eating and gazed at her face, causing her to turn away. He smiled kindly and laughed before turning back to his food.

"I was just wondering. What made you think food was his first love?" laughed Harry, "It's more like his one and only love."

"Love is love," Hermione sighed.

"What?" asked Ron through a mouthful of food.

The others laughed and finished their meals quickly to stop the ice cream from melting in the heat. Although, Hermione couldn't understand why she was feeling so strange and why Harry made her nervous all of a sudden. And when she commented on love, she couldn't help noticing the look which came over his face, a wistful, almost longing, expression.

***

Hermione paced the common room feeling bored out of her brains. She never had nothing to do before which is why she was anxiously pacing the room, becoming more and more irritated by the second. Harry and Ron were sleepily playing their fifth game of Exploding Snap and were about to reach for Ron's wizard chess set, when suddenly...

**BANG!**

"Hermione!?" gasped Ron.

Hermione looked at her friends in surprise. She hadn't meant to knock the table over. She had begun to feel so irritated that eventually she snapped and kicked the table as hard as she could. Nursing her sore toe, she bit her lip and stared at the others. Hermione wasn't normally a brave or adventurous person and she nearly always went by the book, but today was going to be very different.

"That's it! I've had enough," announced Hermione defiantly, "We are going to march outside and play a prank on Draco Malfoy, annoy Snape, kick Mrs Norris, go into the Forbidden Forest or anything that we aren't supposed to be doing, right now whether you like it or not OK!?"

Harry and Ron stared at their friend in disbelief.

"Well!?"

Ron gulped and moved his mouth up and down like he was trying to say something. He squeaked something incoherent and blinked at her.

Harry, who looked very similar to Ron, recovered from shock first and replied faintly, "Whatever you say ma'am."

Ron nodded and grinned. Harry's green eyes twinkled dangerously.

"Let's go!"

End Of Part 1 - Harry is a friend

A/N: Oooh.. Interesting... hehehe.. So what did you think everyone? Liked it? Hated it? Think it needed improvement? Review and tell me! Thankz ^.-


	2. The Prank

Scared Of Loving You

Part 2 - The Prank

"All of them!?" Harry exclaimed loudly. "But.. But it's nearly midnight!"

Hermione put her foot down for the second time that night.

"Yes! All of them!"

Ron and Harry stared at their friend. They had never seen her in this state before. Her slightly tousled brown hair shone in the light and her eyes glittered dangerously. Her gaze turned to Harry, but it quickly switched to the fallen table in front of her. As she bent to pick the table up, her fingers grazed Harry's as he reached to help. Blushing, her hands became clammy and clumsily dropped the table edge she had been holding. It only took a few seconds for Ron to realise a table had fallen on his foot.

"OWW!!" he screamed loudly whilst hopping madly around the room.

Harry and Hermione burst out laughing when they saw their friend jumping around the room like a possessed rabbit. They laughed even harder, to Ron's dismay, when he began to bump into furniture. Ron eventually collapsed onto the sofa, convinced that he had broken every bone in his body.

"That's nonsense, Ron!" said Hermione, "The most you'll get from that is a bruise! Now get up and prepare for tonight's adventure!"

"As you wish, Your Highness." muttered Ron as he limped dramatically out of the room.

Harry rolled his eyes and followed Ron to the boys dormitory. Hermione's eyes followed Harry's figure as he climbed the stairs which caused her to mentally slap herself and concentrate on what she was doing. She ascended the stairs to the girls dormitory quickly, wondering what on earth was she doing and why she couldn't help looking at a certain black-haired, green-eyed person. Just thinking about about it made her nervous and sweaty! She closed the door behind her and was ready to begin.

***

A loud creak echoed in the hallway as the entrance to the Gryffindor common room opened on its rusty hinges. A passerby would have seen nothing at all in that hallway, but might have heard a scuffle of feet in the silence. Though, it was past midnight so no one was around. No one except three adventurous friends ready to do what no Hogwarts students had done before. (Excluding Fred and George Weasley.)

"I'm hot."

"Stop whinging!"

"Oww! You stepped on me!"

"No I didn't! It was Ron!"

"Oh, shut up both of you!"

As the friends shifted beneath the Invisibility Cloak, Hermione could feel the blood rushing to her cheeks when her arm brushed Harry's. Harry's outburst caused their whispers to quieten down and eventually stop. They turned another corner, hopped down a flight of stairs and stared up at the Slytherin common room entrance. The portrait of disdainful aristocrat stared down her nose at them. Hermione shivered despite the heat and without knowing, moved closer to Harry's side.

"It's okay Hermione," Harry assured her, "The marker is in my pocket."

Hermione jumped. She hadn't realised how close she was to him and her hands became clammier than usual. She nervously tucked her hair behind her ears and squeezed the arm which had pressed against Harry's. Somehow, being next to Harry was scarier than facing You-Know-Who and she began to feel terribly scared and confused about that thought.

"Password?"

The haughty voice of the portrait spoke sharply in the silence, interrupting Hermione's thoughts.

"Password!?" Ron exclaimed, "What's the password? How will we do anything to Malfoy if we don't even know the password!"

"Ron, be quiet for a minute." Harry replied calmly.

He then held up the lantern to the portrait and said a little louder, "Purebloods only."

The portrait swung open and as the three friends stepped inside, Hermione couldn't help shivering once more, but this was because the expression she had seen on Harry's face. A proud, determined face that showed his certainty. At that moment, Harry turned around and grinned wickedly at her. Caught off guard, she blushed and turned her head.

"What are you doing Hermione!?" her inner voice asked in a harsh tone.

Biting her lip, she realised what she was doing there and a smile spread across her now daring face. She was ready to face anything. As they climbed the stairs to the boys dormitory and slowly opened Malfoy's door, the three friends' indentical evil grins shone in the glow of the lantern.

***

Hours later and a few minutes before sunshine, a certain trio entered the Gryffindor common room defiantly with mud on their cheeks and clothes and happy grins plastered on their dirty faces. They stared at each other and Ron sighed in contentment.

"Can't wait till Malfoy wakes up.."

"... Mrs Norris yowl nearly woke the whole school!"

"The Forbidden Forest was so quiet..."

They all began gabbering excitedly at once, but they soon realised they needed sleep. Their adventure had been risky but worthwhile. Filch nearly caught them twice and Ron had been sure that he glimpsed a werewolf in the forest, but the thrill of it all made it even more exciting. With all the excitement they had been through, their energy had now been zapped from their bodies. Ron was the first to go, mumbling something incoherent before trudging slowly to his room, knocking into furniture along the way. Hermione giggled and faced Harry, suddenly realising they were alone. Her heart began to race and she found that she couldn't look directly at him. She wiped her forehead and stood up, forcing herself to look at him with a nonchalant expression.

"Well, good night then," she said, "See you in the morning."

"Night Hermione."

Harry stood and faced her. His eyes looked tired, but they smiled at her as Harry grinned. Hermione forced herself to smile back at him. She could feel her heart beating faster and her cheeks begin to blush. As much as she hated to admit it, she was beginning to think that she liked one of her best friends. Looking away in sadness, she knew she didn't stand a chance, especially since Harry liked Cho. She knew that she couldn't like him. It was impossible.

"Night!" she squeaked before dashing up to her room.

Hermione peered out of her doorway and watched as Harry sat silently on a sofa, deep in thought, before smoothly striding to his dormitory. She closed the door behind her and lay in bed. The window beside her bed was open, letting the cool air flow into the room. Slowly, her eyelids began to droop and soon she fell into a deep, dreamless sleep. But not before a picture of a messy black-haired, green-eyed individual flashed in her mind.

"Don't be an idiot, Hermione," she thought sleepily before dozing off.

End Of Part 2 - The Prank

A/N: Hey again! Thanks to my reviewers..! :) i didn't think i'd get ONE... -.-" but thank you for your comments..! i'll try to write more often, but i've been kinda busy. sorry bout that... ^.^' Thanks!


	3. Harry and Cho

Scared Of Loving You

Part 3- Harry and Cho

"Hermione Granger!"

A sharp voice interrupted her thoughts.

"Huh?" she replied sleepily.

Ms McGonagall stared at one of her best pupils in shock whilst her other classmates giggled at her reaction.

"If you would like to join us again, I would like you to answer my question," she stated coldly.

Hermione froze. She had always been able to pay attention in class before! Harry, who was sitting on her right, had squeezed her arm for a second to tell her something. She felt dizzy for some reason and hadn't noticed anything except the warmth of his hand and the fact he had actually touched her arm. And as silly as it sounded, when Hermione had leant over to talk to him, she could smell a nice, clean soapy kind of scent from his body which had made her feel dizzy all over again. In her happy daze, she had forgotten that she was in Transfiguration listening to McGonagall explain another difficult, but more effective form of transfiguration done by some animals. This was something she would have loved to learn about, but somehow, it didn't really matter when Harry was next to her.

When Hermione blushed furiously and mumbled something about not listening, the professor stared at her as if she knew the truth (which scared her for a minute) and continued her lesson. Hermione was staring at her table, feeling utterly humiliated about the scene, when Harry nudged her arm. She would have leapt out of her chair and out of the window beside her at that moment, if she hadn't had more sense than that. Why was Harry affecting her so much lately? Her heart beat began beating faster at the thought of liking him more than a friend. Licking her lips nervously, she turned around casually to face Harry's concerned face.

"Hermione? What was that about? You normally pay more attention than everyone in this classroom put together!" he whispered.

"I'm.. I'm a bit.. out of it today" she replied wearily carefully avoiding his intense green eyes.

"Yeah, after last night you would be!" Ron quipped.

Suddenly forgetting about her previous thoughts, she giggled at the thought of last night's adventure and then began laughing silently to herself when she remembered that morning in the Great Hall. The words "Draco", "permanent marker" and "moustache" were all that were needed for her to collapse in a laughing heap. To draw a moustache and other "facial features" on Draco the previous night had been her own idea. Fortunately, Draco was too "traumatised" by that morning and was given the day off. 

It was obvious that Harry and Ron were also remembering Draco's makeover as well. A giggle escaped her mouth when she saw them trying not to laugh beside her. Harry's body was shaking from the effort and had his hand pressed to his mouth to stop himself from laughing out loud and beside him, Ron had his head in arm which muffled his laughter and was banging the table with his other fist in his silent hysterics. Hermione desperately tried to control her giggles, but she could tell she was weakening because she couldn't even hold her quill anymore.

"Don't look at them. Do NOT look at them." she instructed herself sternly.

She couldn't help herself. She glanced at a peek at them and saw Ron face begin to go bright red and Harry nearly fall off his chair. Harry looked at Ron who was looking at Hermione who was looking at Harry. And suddenly, all three of them burst out laughing in the middle of Transfiguration to the bewilderment of the teacher and the other classmates. Professor McGonagall tried to tell them off and give them a detention, but they couldn't help laughing, even when she glared sternly at them. To her distress, some of their classmates (except the Slytherins who they shared the class with) began to giggle as well for no reason at all and it took her the remainder of the lesson to calm the students down and give nearly all the Gryffindors a detention that afternoon.

Though, later that evening after detention, Ron swore he saw McGonagall's mouth twitch. Which started them off again.

***

Hermione grinned at Harry and Ron as she joined them at the Gryffindor table for dinner. Ron grinned back and resumed hungrily devouring his food, but Harry was staring, to her annoyance, towards the Hufflepuff table.

"Hi H-mm-ermione!" Ron greeted her, with his mouth full of food.

"Hey.." Harry said absently.

Hermione sat down quietly next to Harry and tried to dismiss her jealous thoughts. Maybe she really did like Harry, a lot. She suddenly didn't feel very hungry and began to play around with the food on her plate.

"Oh no, look who's back to accuse us again." groaned Harry.

"Well, well, well, Harry Potter," snickered Draco Malfoy, who stood near the three friends. "Feeling pleased with yourself, are you? Well I wouldn't be smiling if I were either of you! Father has already heard about this and I'm sure Dumbledore isn't too pleased about this."

Laughing loudly, he sauntered off towards the Slytherin table.

"Ooh! That stupid bouncing ferret really gets on my nerves sometimes.." growled Hermione.

Harry patted her arm sympathetically.

"Don't worry about Malfoy, he's just whinging as usual."

"Yeah, I'd be whinging too if I was humilated in front of the whole school!" snorted Ron.

They laughed and joked around until dinner was finished. When the plates were as spotless and shiny as before, they got up energetically, ready to go back to the common room.

"Let's have a race!" announced Ron suddenly.

Harry and Hermione exchanged a look. Hermione giggled and then blushed when she realised they both had the exact bewildered expression on their faces.

"1... 2... 3... GO!"

The three friends shot off towards the Gryffindor common room, twisting around corners, speeding down corridors and racing up stairs. Being light, agile and a fast athlete, Harry sped ahead of his two friends and quickly overtook them. Breathing loudly and heart beating madly, he raced around another bend and ran straight into someone. They toppled over onto the ground from the impact. Suddenly, two other figures hurtled around the corner, but they stopped just in time, in front of the two tangled bodies.

"Sorry!" gasped Harry, out of breath.

Hermione, who was leaning against the wall trying to catch her breath, stared at Harry as he realised he was lying on top of the person and got up blushing madly. He gently helped the figure up who got up slowly and looked up at the three friends. Harry gasped in shock and nearly let go of her, but he held on tightly because she winced in pain. Rubbing her sore ankle, she gingerly took a step, but fell straight into Harry's arms again.

"I think you've sprained your ankle, Cho." Ron said worriedly.

Hermione scowled. Harry looked like he was in heaven.

***

A surprisingly cool breeze blew into the Gryffindor common room. Hermione, who had miserably flopped into a huge armchair that hot summer night, ran and sat by the window ledge. She stared outside the window, looking up at the moon shining brightly and the stars twinkling in the clear sky. Ron had gone to bed earlier saying that he needed to sleep after all that running. Harry, being the gentleman he was, carried Cho to Madame Pomfrey to get her ankle fixed. Somehow, she couldn't help feeling a twinge of jealously.

"Lucky Cho..." she thought to herself.

"Lucky Harry..." she said aloud.

"Why am I lucky?" asked Harry.

Hermione gasped and jumped up in surprise. She spun around and glared at him.

"Don't scare me like that!" she scolded, "You gave me an awful fright..."

Harry laughed and sat down beside her on the window ledge. Realising how close they were, Hermione's heart began to race. They stared up at the night sky together in silence. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes, reminding herself not to think of Harry in any other way because he was a great best friend. She glanced at his face. His sparkling green eyes gazed in awe at the twinkling stars. Even though he had a small smile on his face, a shadow of sadness masked his expression. Hermione's heart reached out to him. She felt like holding him in her arms and telling him everything would be alright. Harry turned his head and smiled warmly at her. Caught off guard, Hermione blushed and tried not to show her embarrassment.

"S... So... I'm lucky because..." Harry began seriously.

His voice had broken the silence.

Hermione mentally cursed herself for thinking out loud earlier.

"It was... er... nothing Harry." she replied.

He stared intensely at her.

"No, what is it? I want to know. Why am I lucky?" he asked urgently.

For the first time in her life, Hermione was tongue-tied. She couldn't think of a good response. Blushing furiously, she tried to think of a better answer than the truth.

"Well..."

"That's a start..." she thought. "Wait a minute, Harry's your best friend! You can tell him anything right? Well, except the fact that you pretty much like him..."

"You... You've always liked... Ch... Cho right? And you got to talk to her today... more!" she answered brightly.

Harry looked at her strangely and then looked a bit embarrassed.

"Um... yeah. That's right, I guess." he said nervously. "Nothing... really... happened today you know. I just apologised and she said it was OK."

"Oh..." Hermione managed to say.

"And... you know what? To be honest, she seemed... well... different. A bit too... um... giggly and flirty in my opinion."

Hermione looked right at him, her heat beating louder and her eyes wide open. Harry looked away, hiding his blushing face. They both wondered why things had become so awkward between them.

"Anyway, I have to go to bed now. All that running made me very tired." Harry said wearily, ignoring the awkwardness between them.

They got up and began walking slowly to the middle of the room.

"Night Harry!" squeaked Hermione, licking her lips nervously.

"Night Hermione." replied Harry, sounding a bit strange.

And not knowing what possessed her, she leant towards him, kissed his cheek and raced to her dormitory. Harry stood shocked and touched the cheek she had kissed, realising that this was only the second time she had done this. Feeling a bit confused, he turned and walked off to his room. After Hermione raced into her room, she flung herself onto her bed and buried her burning face into her pillow. Her madly beating heart pounded on her chest as she lay back, staring up wide-eyed.

"Why did you do that!?" she shrieked inside her head. "Harry must KNOW you like him now! How will you face him in the morning? Well, come to think of it, DO you like him? Actually, you've kissed his cheek before. Once. Before the train left at the end of last year..."

Her thoughts whirled around her head until, suddenly, a picture of Cho and Harry smiling together flashed in her mind. She sat up straight, banging her head on the bed above her.

"Ow!" she exclaimed loudly.

She quickly clapped her hand over her mouth, hoping no one had heard her. Someone murmured and rolled over in their sleep. But that was all. However, the bump on the head had seemed to knock some sense into her.

"You CANNOT like Harry," she scolded herself. "He is your best friend and he likes CHO."

End of Part 3 - Harry and Cho

A/N: Wow! Finally chap. 3 is up! I've been too lazy, but one day... ONE day I'll finish the story. somehow i think i'll only write when any ideas come to me =) please review!


	4. The Potion

Scared Of Loving You

Part 4 - The Potion

A hand waved in front of Hermione's vision, interrupting her thoughts.

"Hello? Earth to Hermione!" Ron droned.

"Huh? What do you want?" Hermione muttered vaguely whilst watching Harry flying around the field for Quidditch training.

"You're supposed to be helping me with my Potions homework!" exclaimed Ron.

"I am?" she answered.

"Hermione! Pay attention and help me!" Ron persisted, his voice getting louder.

"Just a moment..." she replied dazedly.

"HERMIONE GRANGER! COULD YOU PLEASE STOP WATCHING HARRY POTTER AND HELP ME WITH MY RUDDY POTIONS WORK!?" screamed Ron at the top of his lungs.

Hermione gasped in shock and jumped up from their grassy spot under a tree. She looked around wildly to see if anyone had heard Ron and sat down again, cheeks burning with embarrassment.

"Ron!" she hissed.

"Well, at least that got your attention," Ron said smugly.

"RON!" exclaimed Hermione. "I'm sorry I haven't been paying attention, but I wasn't watching Harry alright?! Well, I was watching him, but not in that way! You know... I'm his friend and I was just watching him because..."

She stopped mid-sentence, realising that she had begun babbling.

"Because..." Ron enquired.

"Er... nothing," replied Hermione, looking down at her Potions notes to hide her blushing face.

"Um... Hermione," Ron began gently. "I... er... I know... you like Harry."

She gasped at looked at him in astonishment.

"What!?" she exclaimed. "Is it... Is it that obvious!?"

Her face twisted into such a bizarre expression that Ron burst out laughing.

In between laughs he snorted, "I'm your... one of your... best friends! Of course I can tell!"

Hermione glared at him, before grabbing her notes and stomping off towards the Gryffindor tower. She decided that Ron could wait for Harry by himself and hopefully he would have stopped laughing by then.

***

"Where were you Hermione?" asked Harry later that evening.

"Yeah, you just ran off for no reason!" added Ron cheekily.

"I... left something in my room," Hermione lied, frowning at Ron behind Harry's back.

Harry nodded and collapsed into one of the soft armchairs. His messy hair somehow looked messier than usual and he had a streak of mud on his face. The glasses that rested on the bridge of his nose in front of his bright green eyes was flecked with dirt and grime. He sighed and shifted uncomfortably in his robes from the heat. Hermione thought he looked fantastic.

"So what were you two doing outside anyway?" asked Harry.

"Just finishing our Potions work," replied Hermione, wondering how someone could still look good even though they were tired and sweaty.

"Oh no! We have double Potions tomorrow!" groaned Ron.

"And Snape's going to personally make sure that there's enough homework to guarantee we won't get any free time." Harry said dejectedly.

The trio sighed in unison, knowing that tomorrow was going to be a very dull and boring day. Little did they know how wrong they were.

***

Draco Malfoy smirked at the three friends as they entered Snape's classroom the next day. He looked smugly at them, as if he knew something they didn't, which made them feel uneasy at once. He gave a loud false cough when they came in, not smiling, but laughing at them with his eyes. Harry narrowed his eyes suspiciously at him as he walked past his table, Ron shot him a nasty glare and Hermione, rather childishly, stuck her tongue out at him. Malfoy, obviously taken by surprise, raised one eyebrow in amusement and gave her, what he hoped, was a superior look. Hermione giggled to herself at his reaction, but stopped when Harry poked her in her side.

"What's so funny?" he asked.

Hermione blushed at her stupidity and shook her head at him, still recovering from his touch. She turned and looked at her two best friends beside her. Harry looked questioningly at Ron and it seemed as if he were sending some silent secret message with his eyes. Ron stared at him for a while with his eyebrows furrowed in deep thought and then, coming to a conclusion, shrugged.

"What's going on? I wonder what they were thinking..." pondered Hermione.

The door slammed as Snape hurried in, snapping her out of her thoughts. Another figure ran in after him, dropping a few things as he raced to his seat.

"Longbottom! Late as usual," sneered Snape. "5 points from Gryffindor."

He surveyed the room, smirking at the three friends with an expression that was not unlike Draco's earlier.

"Today," he began in a voice greasier than usual, "we'll be creating a potion, that is a bit more advanced than what we have previously learnt."

A small whimper indicated that Neville wasn't feeling too confident about making the potion.

"Veritaserum," Snape said in a nasty, cold tone. "Can anybody tell me what it is?"

Hermione's hand immediately shot in the air, to no one's surprise, but to everyone's amazement, Draco Malfoy slowly raised his hand.

"Yes, Draco?" asked Snape, with a snake-like grin.

"Veritaserum is a Truth Potion. So powerful, that only three drops will have you spilling your innermost secrets..."

At this point, he stood up and faced the class, giving Harry, Ron and Hermione in particular an icy glare.

"... like whether you managed to play a very stupid prank on me or not."

"Now, now Mr Malfoy." Snape said still smiling unpleasantly. "Sit down. But now that you mention it, that is something we might discover today, if the unfortunate students happen to be in this very classroom. You will be testing your potions at the end of this lesson and if the guilty culprits are caught, Dumbledore will then be informed of course."

He sneered at the three friends who all began to panic silently inside their heads. They looked at each, mirroring each other's alarmed expression.

"He might as well accuse us now..." Harry muttered to Hermione.

"Potter!" Snape exclaimed. "Talking in class! 10 points from Gryffindor."

Seamus Finnigan, a friend of the three now-guilty friends, who also knew what they had done and who also happened to be sitting in front of them that lesson, turned around and gave them a look which said: _Oh no! Snape's going to kill you! What are you going to do?! He knows and Malfoy knows you did it! How are you gonna get out of this?! Dumbledore is gonna be really mad. Do you think he's going to expel you? I hope not! You're my friends and I love yo- _(A/N: snip!). Hermione silently agreed with Seamus and began thinking up ways to avoid drinking the potion. Put in the wrong ingredients? Accidently knock it over? Similar ideas popped up in everyone's mind.

"Of course," Snape continued, looking happier than usual. "nobody should think of purposely mixing the wrong potion. As this, will be graded as a major part of your reports."

A gasp rippled throughout the classroom and Harry, Ron and Hermione stared at each other in fear. The class began to chatter excitedly among themselves at this startling news.

"Oh no!" Hermione shrieked in her head. "Snape's going to find out that it was us and Dumbledore is going to be so angry! This is all my fault! If I hadn't thought of the stupid prank, this would have never happened. I should confess now and save my friends from getting into trouble. If I took the potion, I'd have to confess my innermost secrets... in front of the whole class! What if... I started talking about how I feel... about... Harry!?"

Her insides began to squirm as she pictured Harry's reaction when she told the class how he made her heart race and her head light and dizzy when he was nearby and how he made her feel so happy and confused at once... how his eyes sparkled as he talked... how he was the best friend she couldn't like. Slytherin would never live it down.

"I have to confess! I thought up the prank so I'm going to take responsibility for it!" she whispered bravely to Harry and Ron.

Harry looked at her in concern. Ron looked at her in disbelief.

"Hermione," he said in a determined tone. "DON'T"

"We're... we're in this together," Ron added nervously.

"QUIET!" Snape roared. "15 points from Gryffindor for unnecessary chatter! Copy this potion down in silence and if I hear another sound I will double the amount of points you have already disgracefully lost."

When everyone had completed copying the potion from the blackboard, they reluctantly set their equipment up. Hermione noticed her hands had started to tremble as she emptied her ingredients in her bubbling cauldron. Harry gave her a worried look as he poured a vile of foul-smelling liquid into his cauldron. She gave him a wobbly smile and concentrated on her potion, desperately hoping that the solution would not become completely clear like it was supposed to. To her disappointment, the cauldron gurgled and turned as clear as crystal. Hermione gulped and glanced at Harry's potion and Ron's which looked indentical to her own.

"I'm going to die," Ron moaned.

The students used a eye-dropper to collect a few drops of their Truth potion and waited anxiously for Snape's instructions. Snape wandered around the room, examining people's potions and writing down their mark on a piece of parchment.

"Excellent, Potter, Granger, Weasley," Snape announced with an evil grin. "You three have somehow managed to create a perfect Truth Potion. I'll be looking forward to see the effects of it."

Ron began cursing Snape with every word he knew, under his breath, until Hermione nudged him sharply with her elbow.

"My potion isn't clear!" squeaked Neville.

"That doesn't come as a surprise for me." Snape replied icily. "Longbottom, you will test your potion first. Go to the front and face the class."

Neville teeth chattered in fear as he collected a few drops with his eye-dropper, spilling some of the translucent liquid on the table. He stumbled to the front of the classroom and stood trembling in front of his classmates.

"Oh, poor Neville!" thought Hermione.

"Hurry up boy! Drink up!" Snape demanded sharply.

Slowly, Neville raised his eye-dropper and squeezed three drops into his mouth. He then immediately screwed his eyes shut and looked as if he were preparing for some unknown pain to hit him.

"Alright, let us test if his potion really works." said Snape clearly. "Longbottom, what is your biggest fear?"

"Y... Y... You are sir!" he squeaked, appearing as if it was the last thing he wanted to say.

Neville watched in horror as, suddenly, his nose began to grow longer. The class burst out laughing.

"I see," Snape remarked evilly. "What are you afraid of anyone knowing?"

"I... I... I still... wet... the bed!" he said in an usually high-pitched voice.

"Poor Neville! He looks like he's going to cry!" Hermione told Ron and Harry.

Ron almost looked sympathetic, but then he started laughing loudly with everyone else as Neville's nose grew even bigger than before.

"And did you," Snape continued. "play any prank at all on Draco Malfoy last week?"

"N... No..." Neville whimpered, sniffing as his nose grew as long as a tree branch.

"Hush! You have now seen a Truth Potion work. A badly made Truth Potion though. Longbottom's potion seems to have worked, but it has the strange side effect of making his nose grow larger every time he says the truth." Snape commented with a satisfied grin.

Neville, stood snivelling in front of class as they laughed hysterically at his nose for a minute, before he had enough sense to rush out of the room to look for Madame Pomfrey.

"Neville!" Hermione cried as she leapt out of her seat after him.

"Not so fast, Granger," Snape sneered, blocking her way. "I believe, you are next?"

"I... I..." Hermione stuttered, lost for words.

"I will go next!" Harry shouted bravely.

The laughter immediately subsided and soon the classroom was silent. Hermione gaped at Harry who had stood up determinely.

"Very well," Snape said with another snake-like grin. "You may go next. 10 points from Gryffindor for Granger's attempted getaway and Potter's outburst. Each."

Hermione sat down gloomily next to Ron and watched as Harry courageously walked to the front of the room with his Truth potion in his hand. He stared at Snape's impatient face before opening his mouth and squeezing three drops in with his trembling hand. Malfoy smirked triumphantly at his enemy, knowing that he was going to confess. Harry glowered at Snape, waiting for him to test the potion.

"Excellent." Snape sneered. "Now we test the potion. Potter, what is your biggest fear?"

"Lord Voldemort." Harry replied without hesitation.

People in the room gasped in shock and stared at him wide-eyed. Parvati Patil even uttered a small shriek. Snape, however, did not budge.

"Let me get to the point," Snape began. "Did you, Potter, play a prank on Draco Malfoy last week?"

"Y... Yes i did." Harry admitted with great difficulty.

"I KNEW IT!" Draco exclaimed. "You should be EXPELLED for this, Potter!"

"Calm down, Mr Malfoy," said Snape. "I'm sure Professor Dumbledore will think of a suitable punishment. So, Potter, who else was with you?"

The class watched in awe as Harry struggled with some kind of internal battle.

"N... No..." he stuttered. "Hermione! ...... Ron!"

"Thank you, Mr Potter," Snape snickered. "As you can see class, you cannot fight the Truth Potion."

"I KNEW IT ALL ALONG!" yelled Malfoy. "HOW DARE YOU POTTER! MAKE A FOOL OF ME IN FRONT OF THE WHOLE SCHOOL!!"

"YOU WERE GETTING WHAT YOU DESERVED YOU STUPID, FOUL, STUCK-UP, PIECE OF ARROGANT..." Harry shouted back.

"ENOUGH!!" Snape yelled above them. "That is enough boys! 5 points off Gryffindor!"

"WHAT DID YOU CALL ME, POTTER!?"

"YOU HEARD ME YOU JERK!"

"QUIET! THAT IS ENOUGH! IF YOU DON'T STOP NOW I'LL BE FORCED TO TAKE 50 POINTS OFF BOTH YOUR HOUSES!" roared Snape.

They both fell silent. The classroom was now deathly quiet.

"Oh dear, Harry's going to be in even more trouble now... I shouldn't have let him confess!" Hermione thought sadly.

"Potter," sneered Snape after he calmed down slightly. "you have one last question... What are you afraid of anyone knowing?"

Harry took a deep breath to calm himself.

"Th... That..." he stammered beginning to blush madly. "That I... th... think... Herm..."

Hermione looked at Harry wide-eyed her heart beating louder. He was looking straight at her.

"What is the meaning of this!?"

Harry stopped in mid-sentence, too surprised to finish. The rest of the class sat stunned. Professor Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts, had just strode into the room.

"Our caretaker has informed me that he heard a commotion in this very classroom," Dumbledore began. "Would you care to explain what is going on Severus?"

"Of course, Headmaster," Snape said smiling greasily. "Potter here has just confessed that he, along with Miss Granger and Mr Weasley were responsible for the prank that was played on Mr Malfoy the other week. Mr Malfoy, naturally, got upset and overreacted slightly, but that gives no excuse for Potter to begin using bad language to insult Mr Malfoy!"

Professor Dumbledore listened thoughtfully before walking over to Harry who stood determinely at the front of the room.

"He.. He made Harry drink Truth Potion and confess, sir!" Hermione called out from her table, feeling scared for Harry.

"Yeah! That's right!"

"And Neville too!"

Other Gryffindors joined in and stood up for Harry, whilst Malfoy glared icily at them.

"That is enough," Dumbledore stated raising his hand to silence them. "I will ask Harry himself... So Harry, did you do that to Draco?"

"I did, sir." Harry replied curtly.

"And was Hermione and Ron with you?"

"Th... They were," he said, bowing his head.

"And did Professor Snape make you drink a Truth Potion?"

"Y... Yes, sir," Harry admitted.

"We... We were testing the potion which we made, Headmaster," Snape interrupted nervously.

"Of course, Severus," Dumbledore replied, his eyes sparkling. "Except, I believe that the Truth Potion, Veritaserum, which you have concocted today, is what the seventh years are currently learning?"

"Well... uh..." Snape muttered.

The Gryffindor students all glared at Snape furiously. 

"Very well Severus... It is your class after all. But if you wouldn't mind, I would like to arrange proper punishments for the three students?" Dumbledore enquired.

"Of course, Headmaster," said Snape, sneering at Harry with utter hatred.

Ron and Hermione gathered their belongings and Harry's and quickly followed Dumbledore outside. Dumbledore paused at the classroom door and turned to Professor Snape.

"Severus, would you please give Harry the antidote for the Truth Potion? I would like to hear Harry tell the truth without magical aides."

The professor reached inside his robe and took a crystal bottle of jet-black liquid. He handed it to Harry who carefully drank three drops, closed the lid and handed it back. 

"Thank you. You may continue on with your lesson."

Hermione's and Harry's eyes met briefly as they left the classroom with Dumbledore. Fear reflected in each other's eyes and a loud gulp from Ron showed he felt exactly the same. Hermione's heart beat madly with fear and something else. Harry had said something very strange a few minutes ago.

_"Th... That..." he stammered beginning to blush madly. "That I... th... think... Herm..."_

"Herm?!" she thought to herself. "That would be me, right? Or what else did he mean then!? Hermit? Hermaphrodite!? No, it can't be them... It must be me? Well, what did he think about me then?"

She needed to know. Her head was feeling dizzy and light-headed. Harry affected her so much lately! She couldn't concentrate on anything but him when she was around him. Hermione looked at Harry walking beside her, imagining what it'd be like to hold his strong hand and walk quietly together enjoying each other's company. She then realised what she was doing and blushed at her silly romantic thoughts.

Suddenly, deciding to be brave, she whispered to Harry, "Harry? What were you going to say before? Before Professor Dumbledore came in? You... uh... didn't finish your sentence."

Harry looked at her dumb-struck and then, as if he came to a conclusion, smiled warmly at her.

"Don't worry, Hermione," he replied rather mysteriously. "You'll know sooner or later."

End of Part 4 - The Potion

A/N: chap.4 been the longest chap. I've written so far..! and for some weird reason... it was the quickest ive ever written... =) hope u liked it! plz review ^.^


	5. Revenge is Sweet

Scared Of Loving You

Part 5 - Revenge is Sweet

"Damn Malfoy! I bet he asked Snape to make Truth Potions on purpose!" Hermione thought angrily. 

Professor Dumbledore watched the three Gryffindor students standing in his office. Hermione Granger had a frown on her face, Harry Potter stared at the ground and Ronald Weasley gawked open-mouthed at Fawkes the phoenix.

"You three broke many rules last week because of the inappropriate prank you played on Mr Malfoy. For that, I have decided to deduct fifty points from Gryffindor. **And** you will be given detentions, starting from tomorrow."

Dumbledore gave them a stern look and the three friends fidgeted guiltily. Dumbledore's disapproval suddenly made them all feel very bad indeed.

"Very well. You may go back to your common room now. I believe class has ended already. You shall receive further instructions about your detention by owl tomorrow morning." Dumbledore said a bit coldly, sounding unlike his usual friendly self.

Hermione, Harry and Ron trudged miserably back to the Gryffindor common room, feeling as if their plan had seriously back-fired. Harry muttered the password to the Fat Lady and they entered the room, slumping in large armchairs.

"This isn't fair!" Ron whined, breaking the silence. "Draco got Snape to make the Truth Potions because he knew it was us!"

"Well, who else would he expect, Ron?" Harry snapped back in annoyance.

Ron looked hurt, but guilty all the same. Hermione watched as Harry slowly took off his glasses and rubbed his frowning eyes. He blinked a few times and she couldn't help feeling a bit mesmerised by his amazing green eyes. She blushed when she saw Ron catch her looking and wink very slowly and obviously at her. Harry by then had put his glasses back on and he looked around, puzzled.

"Am I missing something?" he asked in a weary voice.

"No!" Hermione replied, a bit too quickly. 

Biting her lip anxiously, she hoped she hadn't sounded too nervous. Harry gazed at his two friends suspiciously.

"I wish I could get that rotten Malfoy back." Ron growled, changing the topic.

A sudden idea popped up in Hermione's mind. A word had appeared in her mind. _Revenge_... She stood up, eyes glittering and turned to smile evilly at her friends.

"I think we can..." she whispered dangerously.

Harry and Ron exchanged a glance. The last time they had seen Hermione like this was the time they had actually played the prank on Draco. Her eyes sparkled excitedly as she watched her two best friends expectantly. 

"W... What are you thinking of?" Ron asked, slightly afraid to find out.

"I think it's time Draco Malfoy... Got a taste of his own medicine."

***

Hermione smiled happily to herself when she remembered the admiring look she had received from Harry when she had told them her idea. She blushed as her thoughts switched to later that night when she had kissed both Harry and Ron (to his great annoyance) on the cheek good night in her excitement. They had both had been very surprised, but Hermione was too happy to care then. No wonder she had got no sleep that night!

Though the next morning, Hermione was ready. That morning, she woke up early and bounded up to her best friends clutching a small bottle in her hand. They had all arrived at the Great Hall, an hour before breakfast, when no one else was around. Harry and Ron grinned at her as she sat down next to them.

"I really do hope this works," Hermione said worriedly.

"Don't worry, usually whatever you do turns out alright," Harry grinned at her.

Blushing, she bent her head down, as if inspecting the bottle in her hand.

"Our secret weapon!" Ron announced snatching the bottle from her grip.

And then using a high-pitched voice he imitated what Malfoy had said the day before, "Veritaserum is a Truth Potion. So powerful, that only three drops will have you spilling your innermost secrets... Well, Malfoy, let's see what secrets you have to hide!"

The best friends giggled amongst themselves childishly and walked over to Malfoy's usual seat. An empty goblet welcomed them at the Slytherin table. As they crowded around it, Hermione heart began thumping unusually fast, not from nerves but from being pressed against Harry's side. She could feel tingles running down her spine.

"Oh, come on! The suspense is killing me, Ron!" Harry laughed.

Ron held the bottle above the goblet, letting it hover dramatically close. After what seemed like an eternity, three crystal clear drops fell from the bottle into the cup, pretty much invisible at the bottom.

"There! Done! Now, we can just sit back and enjoy the show." Ron said, adding an evil laugh.

"Malfoy... is... is getting what he deserves," Hermione sniffed, flicking her straight, chestnut-brown hair over her shoulders, secretly hoping he would be utterly humiliated in front of the entire school.

The threesome then headed back to the Gryffindor common room, waiting for everyone else to get up. Once the other Gryffindors had woken up, they headed eagerly to the Great Hall, barely able to contain their excitement. Hermione and Harry were too eager and impatient to eat. Ron, who was always hungry, shovelled down his breakfast. Some of the other Gryffindors looked at them curiously, so they were forced to swallow a few mouthfuls. Harry ran his hand through his messy black hair, which was messier than usual, as if he had just woken up. Hermione smiled a small smile to herself, wishing she could run her fingers through his hair.

Harry, misinterpreting her smile, said to her, "Yeah, I can't wait till Malfoy comes either!"

"That's a first," she replied laughing.

A loud hooting from above indicated the owls had arrived. A flurry of wings swept down from the ceiling and packages and letters landed in front of several students. Hedwig landed gracefully beside Harry, who took a letter out of her beak. She stared haughtily at Ron's owl, Pig, as it fluttered hyperactively around his head, before dropping a letter. A tawny school owl also dropped a letter in front of Hermione. They all glanced at each other, knowing exactly what it was about.

"Detention..." Harry groaned, temporarily forgetting about Malfoy.

"You are to meet Mr Filch at his office tonight at 9pm. You will receive further instructions from then on." Hermione read aloud.

"Oh no..." Harry moaned. "With Filch!?"

"Lo-mm-ok!" Ron exclaimed, halfway through his breakfast.

They looked up at the doorway of the Great Hall as Draco Malfoy, accompanied by his two cronies, sauntered inside and went across to the Slytherin table. He sneered at the three friends as he went past, to Harry in particular. Watching eagerly as he walked over to his seat, they held their breath. Ron had even dropped his fork.

"My seat is dirty," Malfoy announced loudly in a bored tone, as he stood by the table.

The three friends looked at each other in amazement. They didn't expect this! What would happen if he didn't sit in his usual place? Ron began to bite his nails nervously.

"Uh... Have my chair, Draco," Goyle replied stupidly.

Draco looked at it disgustedly at first, but then shrugged and sat in his normal spot. He grabbed a nearby apple and started chewing slowly and lazily, nearly driving the friends insane.

"Hurry up!" Hermione hissed under her breath.

And then suddenly, as if it were in slow motion, Malfoy reached over towards his goblet, picked it up and took a long drink. It took all Hermione's self control to not get up and start cheering. Ron and Harry looked equally gleeful.

"Someone asks him a question and all his innermost secrets start pouring out!" Harry remarked cheerfully.

Draco sat still in his chair, staring at his plate. Suddenly, he looked up and caught Hermione's eye, which scared her for a second. She looked away, squirming in her chair and hoping she didn't look too guilty.

"Duh... Draco... What are you thinking? You look like you're thinking?" Crabbe asked dumbly.

"I... I'm thinking..." Draco stuttered. "I... I'm thinking about... h... how pretty... Her... Her... Hermionelookstoday."

A silence swept across the Great Hall. Every student turned and stared at Draco in total disbelief and shock. Hermione gasped and looked at Harry and Ron wide-eyed. Her insides had started to become queasy as she was aware that people had turned to look at her as well.

"Duh... What? I thought you didn't like her. Do you like her?" Goyle asked, obviously confused.

"I... I really like her!" Draco replied, looking very embarrassed and frustrated. "I've... l... liked her for ages! I... I... LOVE HER DAMNIT!"

There was a short silence, before suddenly, the entire Great Hall burst out laughing. The only ones who weren't laughing were Hermione Granger and Draco Malfoy who shrank down in their seats blushing furiously and wishing they'd die. The teachers were also laughing and even Snape's mouth twitched. Whistles and catcalls echoed throughout the hall.

"Ooh! Malfoy! In love with a Mudblood?"

"I knew it all along!"

"How could you, Draco!" Pansy Parkinson cried shrilly amongst the noise.

As the noise and laughter grew louder and louder around Hermione, she began to feel dizzy from all the chaos, unable to shut out the cruel laughter ringing in her ears. She glanced at Harry and Ron and her blood began to boil when she saw them cracking up uncontrollably. She clenched her teeth and glared angrily at her best friends.

"That's IT," she hissed, before storming out of the Hall.

"Ooh look Malfoy! Your girlfriend's upset!"

"Go give her a kiss and make up why don't you!"

Jeers and teasing floated through the doorway before she slammed it shut. She stood outside, shaking with anger, starting to feel more and more miserable. Her anger gradually faded and realising what had just happened, her bottom lip began to tremble.

"Stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid MALFOY! He is such a prat!!" she screamed feeling more angry and upset and humiliated than ever in her whole life.

At that moment, the door burst open and a very red-faced Harry and Ron ran out.

"Hermione!" Harry gasped.

"What?" she replied coldly.

"Did you... Did you... see... his face!" Ron gasped, trying to stop laughing.

Hermione could see that Harry was trying not to laugh.

"Oh go on, you prats. Keep on laughing then!" she said sarcastically.

Harry and Ron could both see how upset she was, but they couldn't contain their laughter for any longer. Suddenly, they burst out laughing, unable to control themselves. Ron held onto Harry's shoulders to stop himself from falling onto the ground.

"I can't believe you two!!" Hermione cried angrily before running off to the Gryffindor common room.

"I am so STUPID! Why, oh why, did I think of that stupid prank?" she thought angrily to herself.

She could hear their laughter ringing in her ears all the way to the common room. When she reached the portrait of the Fat Lady, she was panting from running, so she had to stop to catch her breath.

"Password?" the Fat Lady asked.

"One second..." Hermione breathed.

"What's wrong dear? You look awful!" she asked.

"NOTHING!" Hermione yelled. "Um... I mean... Jumping Jelly Fruits..."

The Fat Lady frowned at her, before swinging open to let her in. Hermione raced upstairs to her room and flung herself onto her bed. Until now, she had been fuming, but another feeling now swept through her. She felt betrayed and utterly humiliated. A wave of unhappiness spread through her and her eyes started to become blurry.

"My two best friends laughed their heads off at me..." she thought to herself. "Harry Potter laughed at me. The whole school laughed at me!"

A single tear fell from her eye landing on her pillow. She stared at it and then as if a gateway inside her had opened, she began to sob uncontrollably into her pillow. Teardrops fell down her face and onto her pillow as great sobs racked through her body.

"Why? Oh, why me?" she sobbed, now feeling extremely sorry for herself. "Why did... Malfoy... me? And... Harry! Ron!"

She wailed into her pillow and she felt more alone than she had ever been in her whole life.

End of Part 5 - Revenge is Sweet

A/N: i didn't mean to end it so sad =( but i have a feeling it won't stay that way for too long... hehe... stay tuned... and don't forget to review!


	6. Bad Luck

Scared Of Loving You

Part 6 - Bad Luck

Nine loud bells rang throughout the room. Groaning, Hermione Granger rubbed her sore, red eyes and sat up on her wrinkled bed. Running her fingers through her tangled locks, she feebly reached under the bed, found a tissue which was relatively clean and blew her runny nose. Her breathing was ragged and in gasps and she felt incredibly awful. Stumbling towards the bathroom, she locked the door before washing her teary face with teeth-bitingly cold water, hoping no one saw her. Feeling more refreshed and awake than before, Hermione dared to look at her reflection in the mirror. A puffy-eyed, messy-haired, pale face stared back at her helplessly.

"I look like a hag on a bad hair day," she grumbled to herself.

Not caring about the extra Arthimancy work she had planned to finish, Hermione gloomily headed back to her room to avoid meeting anyone she knew. Especially Harry Potter and Ron Weasley. She glared at the thought of her two best friends laughing their heads off that morning and entered her room. Glancing up at the wall clock, she noticed it was ten past nine.

"Ten past nine, already?" she thought to herself miserably. "Oh, isn't that wonderful. I've been crying all day... Imagine all the work I have to catch up with now. I daren't ask Harry or Ron what I missed out on! I bet they're still laughing... I wonder where they are now? Wait a minute... Why do I feel like I've forgotten something? Didn't I have to do something with them? Was it...... DETENTION! I COMPLETELY FORGOT!"

With a shriek, Hermione leapt out of the room and down the staircase, running at top speed past the bewildered Gryffindors in the common room. She accidentally shoved a first year out of the way as she sped down the corridor, ignoring the yells of the people she bumped into. _Hermione Granger_ was late! She had never been late to anything in her entire life and now she was late to detention with Filch, who would personally make sure she made up for her lack of punctuality. Hurtling around another corner, she stopped at the sight of Filch's dingy office. Hermione took a deep breath, tried to fix her hair and reached for the doorknob, preparing an excuse to tell Filch who would probably not believe her anyway. Just as she was about to turn the handle, the door swung open and revealed the ugly, grouchy face of Argus Filch, caretaker of Hogwarts. Two yellow eyes stared up at her by his side and meowed at her haughtily.

Hermione, knowing she looked terrible and was going to be severely punished anyway, put on a forced smile and said cheerfully, "Sorry, I'm late!"

***

"...you will scrub the toilets in the girl's bathroom and then, I'll have a final task for you," concluded Filch with a nasty sneer.

Ron and Harry gazed open-mouthed from Filch to Hermione and back again. After the incident in the morning, they had immediately begun to feel guilty for what they had done and had decided to apologise to her before their detention started. However, Hermione didn't arrive early, like she normally would and the two best friends soon got extremely worried. Hermione Granger was _never_ late to anything! About to run off and find her, they were stopped by Filch who had, unfortunately, come early to his office with his cat, Mrs Norris, faithfully by his side. Filch would never let them go, not even if they had been mortally wounded and needed a doctor desperately. When Hermione had arrived fifteen minutes later, looking like a wreck, both their insides began to squirm with guilt as she was sternly told off by Filch. Both felt that if Hermione hadn't got mad at them in the morning, this would have never happened. It shocked the two friends the most, however, because normally she would come early anyway with her head held high, even if she was ignoring them. Something about Hermione's state convinced them that something was definitely not right.

"We must've really upset her," Harry said to Ron in an undertone.

"Yeah, she looks terrible!" Ron whispered back worriedly.

"Maybe if I got her together with Harry she would forgive me?" thought Ron desperately, "But then again, she's too stubborn to admit she actually likes him more than... a friend..."

Ron looked at Harry who was staring at the ground gloomily. Harry didn't know why, but he felt responsible for Hermione's punishment and really didn't want to see her become even more upset. Hermione, who normally kept her head high in these situations, now hung her head in shame. An odd thump beat in Harry's heart and he couldn't understand what it was, but he felt a sudden urge to race up to her and hold her and tell her how sorry he was for what she had been through. Shaking his head at his bewildering thoughts, he glanced to his left, at Ron, who was looking right at him. Harry blushed, realising Ron knew he was staring at Hermione differently and then tried to dismiss his previous thoughts, by distracting himself with a smudge of dirt on his robes.

"You two," growled Filch, "grab these mops and buckets and follow me to the dungeon. I'll come back for your punishment later, Miss Granger."

Filch gave her a nasty glare before storming outside followed submissively by Ron. Harry grabbed a mop and a bucket and looked back at Hermione once more, who was fiddling with the end of her robes. Suddenly, Hermione's head came up and her sad, glittering eyes met Harry's emerald eyes instantaneously, almost as if it was in slow motion. She stared wide-eyed at Harry for almost a whole minute until he quickly realised what he was doing and turned his head away, before dashing out of the room to follow Ron. Hermione fell heavily into a nearby chair, breathing deeply to calm her fast-beating heart.

"What was that?" she whispered to herself.

***

Hermione hastily wiped her sweaty forehead with the back of her hand before dipping the sponge she was holding back into the soapy bucket. Back in Filch's office, she had finished all the tasks except one, so she had collapsed into an armchair, wondering what _wonderful_ task he would leave for last. He had gone to a storeroom to get some equipment for her and when he came back inside, his face twisted into a nasty, yellow-toothed grin. Shoving a rusty bucket and sponge into her unwilling hands, Filch traded it for her wand and then lead her to a room on the third floor, which she had never seen before. The room's walls were composed solely of mirrors, however, the mirrored walls were now completely covered in a green gooey substance.

"Unfortunately, Peeves, found the Mirror Room and decided that he should redecorate," Filch sneered, "I expect this room to be clean by midnight, without any magic of course. Don't try leaving either. I doubt you'll ever find it again,"

"With... without... m... magic!?" Hermione had stuttered in disbelief, before Filch and Mrs Norris had crossed her path, left the room and slammed the door behind them.

Which left her now to manually clean up the disgusting slimy goo Peeves had scourged all over the mirrors. The only equipment Filch had left her with was a sponge, a bucket filled to the brim with soapy water and a rickety wooden ladder to wipe the slime splattered near the ceiling. Hermione wiped the mirrors furiously and soon her reflection, which was fighting back tears of frustration, became clearer and clearer. She gritted her teeth as she accidentally slopped dirty water on her school robes and tried desperately to think of anything but Harry, Ron and least of all, Draco Malfoy.

"I _hate_ Draco Malfoy," said Hermione angrily, glaring at her reflection in the mirror.

She clambered up the old ladder to wipe the green goo off the top of the mirrored wall and cried out in fury when she realised she had left her sponge on the ground. Climbing down miserably, she walked underneath the ladder and grabbed the soapy sponge. Hermione got back to the top of the ladder and froze.

"You just walked under a ladder. That means you're going to get bad luck," a little voice said inside her head.

"Oh, shut up. That's just superstitious rubbish!" Hermione exclaimed aloud.

"That's a sign of madness you know, Granger. Talking to yourself," Draco Malfoy stated coldly from below.

With a piercing shriek, that echoed throughout the Mirror Room, Hermione dropped her sponge in shock and lost her balance on the unsteady ladder, toppling off the rungs. Her arms dangled madly in the air for something to grab and when a strong force held onto her, she clutched on the solid object for dear life. Suddenly, she found that she was not falling, however, she still was not standing. Her eyes, which had squeezed shut in fright, very reluctantly opened and a pair of cold, grey eyes stared piercingly back at her. Draco Malfoy, who had sworn that he never touched "Mudbloods", had safely caught Hermione in his arms due to his fast Quidditch reflexes. The sight would have looked romantic: a girl with slightly tousled hair who was clutching tightly to a striking fair-haired young man and the tiny bubbles falling lightly around the two. However, the circumstances proved otherwise.

"LET ME GO, MALFOY!" Hermione cried angrily, shoving him roughly.

"Fine," he replied coolly, letting his arms drop her onto the ground with a thud.

If being caught by Malfoy was not enough, the ladder Hermione had fallen off was swaying dangerously from side to side and the sudden impact of her landing finally caused it to sway too far and crash right into the tall mirrored wall that she had so meticulously cleaned. Hermione immediately ducked to avoid the thousands of shards shattering onto the floor and glancing from the corner of her eye, she noticed, with great annoyance, that Malfoy had simply taken a step backwards to avoid the skittering glass. Once the deafening noise of the mirror breaking had ceased, an awkward silence lapsed in the room. There was a tiny clinking sound as the broken pieces of the mirror slid of Hermione as she stood up. Surveying the damage, she realised that the entire wall she had just spent the past hour cleaning, was completely ruined. She looked up from her shaking hands to see an unruffled Draco standing a short distance away and suddenly, she felt a burning desire to hit him as hard as she could. Trying to break the pressing silence, he cleared his throat and asked in a voice that she had never heard before:

"Alright, Granger?" he asked rather gruffly, as if to muffle any concern.

Hermione glared at him, showing all the hatred she could muster. He returned the look with a cold smirk, as if he had expected her to react as she did. With pure hatred for Malfoy running through her veins, she took a step toward him, feeling her blood boil as glass fragments crumbled beneath her shoe.

"ALRIGHT!? Do you think honestly think I'd be ALRIGHT, after this!? First, you HUMILIATE me in front of the entire school by telling them some stupid made up lies. THEN you come in here, scaring me half to death and breaking the mirror I had JUST CLEANED! Trying to give me another dose of BAD LUCK, aren't you MALFOY!"

At this point, Hermione's temper, which did not usually flare so easily, had caused her to walk right up to Malfoy and scream in his face. She was on the verge of tears, but she fought them back as hard as she could, not wanting Malfoy to receive any pleasure in seeing her cry. Malfoy watched this display in amusement, his slate-grey eyes staring straight into her chocolate-brown ones and a smirk twisted on his pale face. Without warning, he plunged his hand into his robes and pulled out his wand. Hermione gasped and took a step backwards, realising that she was helpless and wandless. He lifted his wand in the air and spoke:

"_Reparo_!"

The glass shards, that had scratched Hermione's face and hands, hovered into the air around the two, flying around to find its neighbouring piece. Every single part of the mirror, which had laid scattered on the ground, brought itself together to form the mirror-wall once more. Hermione gaped at Draco, not certain about whether she should be angry or grateful. Ignoring her surprise, Malfoy examined the walls with disgust, before cleaning them with a Quick Clean spell.

"Malfoy... You just..." Hermione began in a startled tone.

"Just finished off your job for you," he finished simply, "Firstly, Granger, you can't lie when you take Veritaserum. I thought you of all people would know that. And I only came in here by accident, though I didn't expect such a warm welcome,"

He ended with his voice dripping in sarcasm, but Hermione didn't notice as she was concentrating on something else.

"You were telling the truth?" she asked sharply, watching closely for a give-away sign to show he was lying.

As soon as she asked him, he did not answer, though his eyes hardened and his face changed into an unreadable expression. Slipping back into his usual cold character, he tucked his wand back into his robes, turned around and sauntered toward the doorway.

"Don't want your boyfriend, Potter, to catch me near you," he jeered over his shoulder.

Something inside Hermione stopped her from screaming out curses and made her ask what she had secretly been dying to know.

"Why did you help me?" asked Hermione softly.

Draco hesitated for a moment, before turning around to face her, his eyes abruptly flashing with cold fury.

"I'll tell you why, Granger. Do you really want to know? It's..."

He stopped, face suddenly expressionless once more. It was almost as if he felt he needed to control his emotions.

"Why?" she whispered, feeling confused, hurt, angry, curious and wary at the same time.

"You know already," he replied in an unfeeling tone.

With those last three words, he rushed out of the room in a very un-Dracolike manner.

***

It was after dinnertime and only a few students milled around the Great Hall. Hermione, who was trying to avoid seeing anyone at all, sat alone at the Gryffindor table, hoping no one would spot her. Covered by an enormous book called 'The Complete Encyclopedia of the Goblin Rebellions', she tried to read about Hagard the Horrible, but found she could not stop thinking about what had happened in the Mirror Room. Malfoy had been acting very strangely since the incident in the Great Hall. After their confrontation, he completely avoided her, which was fine with Hermione as he was the last person she wanted to see during this time. In classtime, however, she had caught him looking rather intensely at her, causing her to feel an overwhelming wave of mixed emotions that she still could not comprehend. Although, Draco Malfoy was not the only person who had been watching her more lately. Still anxious about how she was, Harry and Ron tried to catch her eye during lessons, but she simply acted as if they didn't exist. Hermione thought she may have been imagining, but sometimes when she turned around in class or in the hallway Harry looked away, as if he had been staring, at her.

"Hermione? Is that you?" a voice asked from nowhere.

Hermione jumped and glanced over her book to see who was talking to her. Cho Chang's pretty face looked at her in concern, though her eyes seemed puffy and her nose was a bit red.

"Uh... Hi Cho... Are you okay?" Hermione asked.

"Okay?" answered Cho with a dry laugh, "I should be asking you that actually. How've you been?"

Hermione, feeling as though it were relatively safe to move her book away and expose herself, pushed her book to the side, knocking the salt shaker and its contents onto the table.

"Oh..." Cho said in an awed tone, "You knocked salt over!"

"Yeah, I did," answered Hermione, feeling flustered, "I've been so clumsy lately."

She scooped up the salt shaker and placed it upright on the table. Noticing other people in the Great Hall had looked over to see what had happened, she saw that a few of them had the same peculiar expression as Cho at that moment.

"That's bad luck," Cho blurted out, looking a bit shocked at her bluntness.

"Bad luck?" Hermione replied dumbly.

"To reverse it, you have to throw a pinch of salt over your left shoulder. Quick, do it now, Hermione!" said Cho urgently.

"Don't be silly, Cho. You know that's all just superstitious nonsense!" she replied haughtily, magicking the salt away.

"Just trying to help," sniffed Cho in a hurt tone, before flicking her hair and walking out of the Hall.

"What can be even worse than what's already happened..." mumbled Hermione, getting up to avoid the giggling students gawking at her from the other tables and deciding to go and return her library book.

Hermione walked swiftly towards the library and in her hurry to not be seen, she walked straight into someone, the impact knocking her backwards onto the floor and sending her book sliding away. The person immediately bent down to help her up and without thinking, she accepted their hand and stood up. Still holding the person's hand to steady herself, Hermione looked up and realised who she was facing: Harry.

"Harry," she breathed, still holding onto his hand without knowing.

"I... erm..." he replied, blushing.

He looked down at their entwined hands and she automatically let her hand drop to her side. Not trusting herself to say another word, she grabbed her book from the ground and took off at top speed towards the library door. She glimpsed two flashing grey eyes watching her in the hallway as she ran past, realising Malfoy must have seen everything. Hermione leant against the library entrance, tears stinging in her eyes, as without Harry or Ron, especially Harry, she had never felt more alone in her entire life. But they had hurt her that morning in the Great Hall and as much as she wanted things to be back to normal again, she knew that she would have to forgive them first. Taking this into consideration, Hermione took a deep breath and entered the library, definitely not in a forgiving mood.

"Hermione..." a voice whispered behind her.

End of Part 6 - Bad Luck

A/N: first of all... soorrrryyyy!!! it's been so long since i've last written coz i've had some trouble thinking of what to write next... so... after.. months?! i finished this chap. and i hope you guys like it =) dunt forget to review!


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